Spy in Wolf's Clothing
by SawftLikeSpaghetti
Summary: A legion of canine warriors from another planet have come to Mobius for its Chaos energy. When they send a scout agent down to investigate the sources of power and any potential threats to their invasion, he has to deal with the local heroes without giving away his intentions.
1. Onlookers

The dire wolf marched into the battleship's bridge, his dark red and black-accented armour gleaming under the glow of the lights on the ceiling and matching his almost white fur.

A brown fox woman, dressed in a similar dark red uniform beneath a white lab coat, whirled around and saluted the wolf as approached the ship's master control panel. Just over the railing were rows of similarly garbed canines, intently clicking and typing away on computers.

"General, sir," she began, "we've just finished running diagnostics on the planet below, and I am ready to report our findings."

"Very good, Chief Doctor," the wolf nodded, practically dwarfing the scientist whose ears came up to his crossed arms. His amber eyes were fixed on the enormous screen across the bridge, showing the planet in question with windows of data appearing and disappearing around it. "What have you found?"

"The planet's name is Mobius," the fox began her report, "densely populated with roughly six billion sentient lifeforms, almost all of which resemble us. The planet is approximately seventy-three-point-five percent water, and orbits at a speed similar to our world."

The General nodded. "Are these lifeforms intelligent?"

"They appear to be," the fox confirmed with a nod, and brought up still images of towns, cities and villages onto the screen, "according to our scout drones, there are settlements all over the land, seeming to vary in culture and size depending on the territory."

The dire wolf blinked as one of the still images caught his eye, and he pointed a clawed finger toward it. "Zoom in on that one on the top right."

The fox complied, and typed on the control panel to expand the image. The high definition showed the aerial view of some kind of fortress, with what appeared to be a statue of a man with a ridiculously large mustache posing triumphantly. The fortress's entrance appeared to resemble the head, mustache and all.

His eyebrows furrowed, having absolutely no idea what to think of what he was looking at. "What in blazes is _that_?"

"Our scouts' searches confirmed that this location is known locally as… Eggmanland." The fox forced the name out, thinking it just as ridiculous as her commander did.

" _What_ -land?!" The wolf barked, his pointed ear cocking to one side in utter disbelief. "Chief Doctor, _please_ tell me that's an inaccurate translation."

"Believe me, sir," the fox muttered, shaking her head, "I hope it is as well, but so far, every possible translation I've tried comes back with the same name. I'll keep running it through the Omniglot, but I'm losing hope with each search."

"Ugh, doesn't help that the place is hideous to look at either," the General growled, curling his upper lip. Then, he blinked as something in the image caught his eye. "What's that? On the ground near that… mustached monstrosity?"

With a few clicks, the image zoomed in again, to focus on a blue-tinted, wide chested thing with a comically small dome-like head. It had limbs, and all the proportions of a machine.

"It appears to be some kind of robot," the fox assumed.

"Interesting, it seems that despite their lack of taste, whoever owns this… _Eggmanland_ -" like his subordinate, he had to force the word out with disgust, "-has some technological prowess. With some luck, it will match their ego."

The fox stifled a giggle before she continued her report. "Anyway, there's more to this planet than it appears, sir. Our energy scanners are picking up multiple traces of power. In the hundreds, in fact - the inhabitants of this world seem to have this energy infused within them."

The ridiculous photo was removed from the screen to reveal Mobius again, this time to show arrows darting from the planet with data windows depicting colourful auras and power ratings next to them.

"I see," the wolf murmured, "what have you found out about this energy?"

"The inhabitants seem to call it 'Chaos'. Traces of it can be found within lifeforms, though the strongest concentrations appear in eight locations. However, one of them had energy readings off the charts!"

"Show me that one."

After some more typing, the map of the planet zoomed in to another part, revealing an aerial view of a piece of land. A line shot out from an area near the centre, leading to a popup window on the side showing an aura nearly bursting off the screen. The numbers next to it flickered madly, trying to find an accurate reading.

"Now, this was the most peculiar find," the Chief Doctor explained, "because it seems that the island is… floating in the planet's atmosphere."

"A floating island?" The wolf repeated, raising an eyebrow quizzically. "Is it because of this 'Chaos' energy?"

"That's what I've deduced. I had a troop of Hunter Droids go down to investigate the power source, but…" She trailed off nervously.

The large wolf slowly turned his head, glaring down at the fox scientist. "But…?"

"It… seems that the island is inhabited. I have a live feed set up right now." The fox typed in the control panel and brought up a window filling up the screen. An aerial view of what looked like a tall stone altar could be seen, with a red creature tearing identical robots apart with their bare fists in front of a large green jewel.

"The limitless energy source is coming from that gem," the fox explained, a square cropping around the jewel onscreen, and then it moved to surround the red fighter, "and it was masking this inhabitant's Chaos energy. From how powerful it is, and how intently it's fighting our Hunters, I assume it's the guardian of that gem."

The wolf nodded, and kept watching the fight, which was incredibly one-sided in the red creature's favour. Instead of being mad that so many of his subordinate robots were being so easily destroyed, he got an idea.

"Send out more Hunters to that island," he ordered, "as many as it takes to wear this 'guardian' down."

"But, sir," the fox yelped, ears lowered in fear that her creations were literally being sent on a suicide mission, "that would take a few dozen of them, by the looks of it!"

"And you can simply make a few dozen more, Chief Doctor," the dire wolf argued calmly, not taking his eyes off the screen, "they're assembly line fighter robots, in case you forgot."

She simply let out a defeated sigh and nodded. "Yes, General."

"Once he's worn down, I'll go down there myself and imprison him personally. Our base will be on that island, around that gem."

"Yes sir, but what about the other large energy readings? Our scouters can only get so much information." The live feed was minimised to show the planet again, to emphasise her point.

"That's simple," the wolf's grey muzzle cracked a devious smile as he eyed up the seven other large readings, "send Vex up to me. I have a job for him."


	2. Prower's Angels

"Come on," muttered Tails, typing rather intensely onto his workshop's computer console, "what's hiding up there…?"

He wiped a bead of sweat off his brow as he sat back in his chair to take a small break. When it came to technology, the young two-tailed fox was a prodigy, and there was no machine or system he couldn't crack.

At least, that was until now. This new system was proving quite the challenge - one that he had been racking his brain over for a few hours straight.

 **Knock knock knock!**

Thankfully, he wasn't without help. He swivelled his chair around and jogged to the door, opening it to reveal a pink hedgehog girl, wearing a red dress and matching knee-high boots.

"Hiya, Tails!" She grinned.

"Thanks for coming, Amy," the fox smiled and stood aside for her.

Amy obliged and entered the workshop, and revealed someone else behind her - a cream-furred rabbit girl, just two years younger than Tails, wearing an orange dress with a blue ribbon. Hovering at her side was a blue Chao wearing a smart red bowtie.

Tails blinked, not expecting to see the two of them as well. "Oh, hi Cream."

"Hello, Tails," she said with a polite bow of her head, "I hope you don't mind that Cheese and I came along."

"Chao-chao!" The Chao chirped in greeting.

"Oh no, not at all," the fox grinned, "I just wasn't expecting you too, is all. C'mon in."

"Thank you," the rabbit smiled and walked inside, halting to wipe her shoes on the mat. Cheese fluttered in behind her.

"Yeah, I kinda let her tag along," Amy admitted, rubbing behind her neck as the workshop owner shut the door, "she overheard the message and practically begged to help with… whatever it is you need help with. Hope that's alright."

"Oh yeah, it's cool," the fox grinned and hopped back onto his chair, "in fact, it'll really help that there's two of you!"

"Chao." Cheese muttered, a look of disapproval on his round face.

Tails rolled his eyes and corrected himself. " _Three_ of you."

The Chao grinned triumphantly.

"So what's the big issue, Tails?" Amy asked, sitting on one of the chairs in the workshop. Cream daintily sat down on another, Cheese on her shoulder.

"I'll start at the beginning," Tails typed on his computer, and brought some schematics onto the large screen. They depicted some kind of flying camera device. "I have a few of these little Scout Drones flying around Angel Island, to keep an eye on the-"

"Wait, hang on a sec," Amy held up a hand, a playful smirk on her face, "you're spying on Knuckles?"

"Huh?" Tails blinked, cocking an eyebrow. "N-no, I use them to-"

"You shouldn't invade Mr. Knuckles' privacy like that, Tails," chided Cream, as if she were giving a lecture to a misbehaving child, "how would you feel if he did that to you?"

"Chao-chao," Cheese added, crossing his stubby arms.

"Cream, no," Tails sighed, shaking his head, "you've got it all wrong, I'm-"

"You caught him doing anything embarrassing?" Amy asked with a snicker. "Does he talk in his sleep?"

Cream giggled, and decided to get in on the fun. "Does he style his hair when he's bored?"

"Does he babytalk the Master Emerald when he polishes it?"

"Does he smell the flowers?"

"Does he pick his nose?"

"I'M NOT SPYING ON KNUCKLES!" Cried Tails, who just wanted to get the conversation back on track.

"Sorry Tails, sorry," Amy smirked, "we're just messing around."

Cream's tittering had also settled down. "Yes, we meant nothing by it. And we know Mr. Knuckles never picks his nose. He could never fit his glove into it anyway." The rabbit smiled innocently.

Tails tried to keep a serious face, but the mental image of the echidna constantly slapping himself in the nose got a snicker out of him. He shook his head and restored his serious tone. "Anyway, as I was gonna say, I use these Scouter Drones to patrol the perimeter of Angel Island, so I can let Knuckles know ahead of time if anyone comes near."

"Nifty," said Amy with a nod, "so what's the problem?"

Tails brought up another window, which showed nothing but static and played garbled audio. "This. Something's cutting off the live feed."

"Maybe it got shot down?"

"Unlikely. The Drones have a cloaking device, and a really durable shell. It'd take some heavy fire to take one down, and with how tiny they are, they should be impossible to shoot. Plus, it's still playing audio, so I've got a connection… it's just being blocked somehow."

"Goodness!" gasped Cream, putting a hand to her mouth. "Can you fix it, Tails?"

"I've been trying for a few hours now," Tails sighed, and brought up the window for the program he used to crack software. Green numbers flickered across the black screen. "But whoever wrote this code must be a genius hacker. I haven't made any headway yet!"

"Don't give up," urged Amy, gently ruffling the fox's head-fur, "a smartypants like you can't be kept out of a computer system for long!"

Tails couldn't help but go warm in the cheeks from the compliment. "Well, here's hoping. Anyway, the reason I called you here."

The fox hopped off his chair and walked over to his work desk, and put a hand on an orange box with a keypad on it. "I found this old safe while looking through a junkyard for scrap metal."

"A junkyard?" Amy smirked. "Well that's one thing to call Eggman's place." That got a good giggle out of Cream.

"I know, right?" The fox snickered. "Anyway, I modded this baby to be absolutely indestructible and completely uncrackable. The only way to open it is through a number code written down in here." He tapped his temple with a grin.

"Absolutely indestructible, ya say?" Asked Amy, standing up and reaching behind her to pull out her infamous Piko Piko Hammer. "Mind if I test that theory?"

Tails smirked and lifted the box, setting it on the floor and taking a few paces back. "Knock yourself out."

Cream hopped off her seat and approached as well, giving Amy plenty of room.

The hedgehog smirked and raised the colourful mallet over her head, bringing it down right on top of the safe with a **BANG!**

She lifted it away and looked at the safe. Hers, Cream's and Cheese's eyes widened as they saw that there wasn't even the smallest dent!

"Wow, you weren't kidding," she muttered, holding the Hammer over her shoulder, "I haven't seen many things that my Piko Piko Hammer hasn't at least put a dent into!"

Tails puffed out his chest with a triumphant smirk. "Not even Sonic's unwashed socks can melt through this thing."

That comment got him some quizzical looks from the girls, and even the Chao. He blinked and darted his eyes once he realised what he'd said. "I… performed some _very_ thorough tests…"

An awkward pause hung in the air for what felt like an eternity, before Cream decided to ask what was on both hers and Amy's mind. "Why do you have Mr. Sonic's dirty-"

"AAAAANYWAY," Tails quickly interjected with a nervous smile, and practically leapt to his computer desk to grab a tablet device, "what I want you guys to do is to go out and find as many Chaos Emeralds as you can."

Amy tilted her head. "Whaddya need them for?"

The fox's heartbeat started to slow, now that the awkward moment had passed. "Well, since I can't see what's happening on Angel Island, and we haven't heard from Eggman in a while, I get a feeling something bad might be going down. So we'd better get the Chaos Emeralds gathered together and into my extra-secure safe, where no one but me can get to them. Y'know, just in case."

"But, isn't Dr. Eggman not causing trouble a _good_ thing?" Cream pointed out.

"And why ask us to get the Emeralds?" Amy asked, then added with a dreamy look, "My darling Sonic could get them together in the time it takes to make toast."

"Sonic's still on his vacation in Adabat," Tails explained, "and I promised him that I'd only call if it was a dire emergency. I'll get in touch with him once I can find out if Knuckles is really in trouble."

"Oh yeah, right," Amy nodded, and a wide smile crossed her face, "I wish he would've asked me to come along. Adabat is so tropical and romantic…"

Tails and Cream just exchanged strange looks, which turned into smirks as Amy began losing herself in a daydream of relaxing on a beach with the blue hedgehog.

"Okay, Amy," he spoke up to get her attention, and handed her the tablet, "this tablet detects strong readings of Chaos energy. It'll lead you right to the emeralds. I'd go myself but I'm gonna see if I can get my Drones working. If not, I'll take the Tornado up to Angel Island and have a look for myself."

Amy nodded as Cream and Cheese stood next to her, and the three saluted their foxy friend. "Consider those Emeralds ours, Tails."

"You can count on Team Rose!" Cream added with a determined smile.

"Chao!" Cheese finished, mimicking his young friend's look.

"I wouldn't have asked you guys if I didn't think you could," Tails grinned, and hopped back onto his computer chair to type on the keyboard some more, "it says one of them is nearby, somewhere in Central City. Good luck!"

Amy grinned and made for the door. "Let's go, Cream!"

"Coming! Bye, Tails!" Chirped the little rabbit, jogging after the pink hedgehog, Cheese in tow. "I hope the Emeralds won't be too troublesome to find. Mother told me to not get scuffed up too badly."

"Relax, finding the Emeralds is always a snap," Amy assured her young friend, clicking her fingers for emphasis while exiting the workshop, "this won't be any different, right?"

"Right!" Cream agreed, then tilted her head with a quizzical frown, her lopped ears drooping to one side. "Um… why do you think Tails has Mr. Sonic's dirty laundry?"

Amy shuddered. "The less we think of it, the better."

Cream bit her lip. "I agree." Even Cheese looked rather disturbed.


	3. Not-So-Secret Agent

The small flash of light in the alleyway went unseen by the passers-by on the street, much to the wolf's luck. His dark grey fur and black, lightweight armoured bodysuit blended in almost perfectly in the narrow alley, sunlight being blocked out by the tall buildings at both sides.

After a quick check to see if he was alone, he raised his arm and started pressing his fingers on a screen device on his wrist. After some typing, a blue holographic layout of a city appeared before his face, with the words 'CENTRAL CITY' displayed above it. A black marker appeared on one part, signifying his location.

 _I would have preferred somewhere brighter,_ he thought, _but at least no one saw me warping in. I think._

With a few more taps of his clawed finger, he closed the map and brought up another function. A holographic screen came up reading 'Dialling - Chief Doctor Suné'.

His pointed ears twitched at the dial tone as it went on and on. His eyelids lowered as his annoyance grew at the droning noise.

After a ten-second eternity, the holo-screen turned to static for a second before a fox woman's face appeared on it, looking rather aggravated. "Whoever this is better have a good excuse for interrupting me!"

"Um, it's Agent Vex," muttered the wolf, cocking an eyebrow, "you told me to contact you once I arrived…?"

"Oh, Vex!" She pricked her ears up and put on a small grin. "Yes, Chief Doctor Suné here!"

"Yeah, I know," the wolf muttered, trying to keep his sarcasm to at least a bare minimum, "what's got you so upset?"

"Ugh, the General sending my Hunters down to take care of one of the inhabitants down there, but it's tearing through them like paper! Does he have _any_ idea how much those robots cost to build? Each?! Well, he'll know exactly how much, once I hack into his personal bank account and-"

"Um, Chief Doctor?" Vex interrupted. "My mission?"

"Oh, sorry! Briefing first, petty revenge later." Suné's face was replaced on the holo-screen with an orbiting hologram of Mobius. "Your mission is to collect information regarding the Chaos Emeralds. Where they are, what they look like, what they do, et cetera."

Vex nodded. "How will I track them down? Do they project some kind of signal?"

"They do, sort of," the fox said, "I've modded your comm-puter to detect Chaos energy. The Emeralds should emit a significantly powerful reading, so you'll know when you're near one."

"Got it," the wolf nodded, "and when I find one?"

"Take it if you can, or at least record its location for a pickup later. Any other questions?"

"Just one… why do you call it a comm-puter?"

"Because it's a communications device with computer properties," Suné's voice purred with pride, "ergo, a comm-puter!"

Vex just blinked, and decided not to question further. "Your creativity knows no bounds, Chief Doctor."

The fox giggled. "I try! Now, you're all set?"

"I am. I've studied the different kinds of species down here as well. Didn't take too long; a lot of them are like us."

"Okay, good luck down there! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have robots to build… and a few paychecks to steal."

"...right, I'll call you when I find an Emerald. Vex out." And with that, he pressed on the screen and ended the call. "Sometimes I wonder how such a dork became the army's top scientist."

Deciding he could worry about his people's slightly jaded hierarchy later, he made his way out of the alley and onto the city street. The tall buildings and many pedestrians weren't a first to the wolf - it was his job to infiltrate planets for one reason or another. To blend in and secretly sap a world's secrets.

Though, from the curious looks he was getting from the animals and taller humans he passed by, it seemed he would need to do a bit more blending in than usual.

He caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection of a store window, realising his outfit was in great contrast to what other pedestrians were wearing. His black, lightly armoured stealth bodysuit didn't really go with the more casual wear that seemed to be the norm on Mobius.

 _Okay, step one; find out the local currency,_ he thought as he walked on, ignoring anymore strange looks, _step two; obtain said currency, step three; find a change of clothes. Then I can focus on finding those Chaos Emeralds._

He walked past a food cart, watching an exchange take place between two humans. A cheeseburger for a trio of small, golden rings.

 _I suppose those are the currency here. Now, where to find some of these rings for myself._

He walked on down the street, and watched a blue parrot strumming on a guitar and squawking some cheesy lyrics about really missing a baby and wanting it back. Passers-by tossed some more of those rings into his guitar case.

 _Mobian culture is strange,_ he murmured internally.

Before he could start planning out a short busking career, his comm-puter started making a small but shrill beeping noise, the screen blinking in sync. He brought the device up and tapped on it.

'CHAOS SIGNAL LOCATED'

The screen displayed the location of the strong reading in a certain direction, like the needle of a compass.

"That was fast," he murmured, and started racing after the signal, "okay, Emerald first, then clothes, then street musician career if still necessary."

He made a mental note to study the local music scene when he next got a chance.


	4. The Art of Haggling

"Oof!" Grunted Amy, looking up from the tablet to see she had walked into a human man's leg. "Oh, sorry."

Cream stopped beside her and offered her a well-meaning smile. "Amy, make sure you watch where you're walking." Cheese nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah yeah, I know," the hedgehog said, rolling her eyes with a smile of her own, "I'm just making sure we're on the right track."

The tablet's screen showed a top-down layout of Central City, zoomed in on the street Amy was standing in, with a rotating diamond shape on the top and an arrow pointing off the screen, indicating the Chaos Emerald was still a ways ahead, but still in the city.

"It's pointing toward the Central Mall," Amy pointed out, and twirled to look at Cream with a wide grin, "ooh, we can have a little shopping trip while we're there!"

"That's a wonderful idea!" Squeaked the young rabbit, clasping her hands together. "But after we find the Chaos Emerald of course, right?"

"Oh, totally!" Amy nodded, winking at her friend. "It'll be our little reward, eh?"

"Of course," Cream smiled, and looked up at her little Chao friend, "I've been meaning to look for a new bowtie for Cheese, in case he gets this one dirty."

Cheese blinked and self-consciously adjusted the bowtie around his neck.

"Alright," Amy smirked, and turned to point down the street, "we find the Chaos Emerald, then we shop till we drop!"

Pedestrians halted, taken by surprise or just looking incredulous at the little pink hedgehog's posing.

Cream, however, clapped her hands with glee and skipped to her side. "Let's go find the Emerald!"

Ignoring the curious glances of humans and animals alike, the two girls dashed ahead, following the lead of the tablet's map. Cheese chirped and fluttered after them.

The Central Mall was a newer addition to the area, its construction beginning shortly after the city's restoration following the Black Arms Invasion. With plenty of stores for clothes, video games, jewellery, shoes and music, plus a food court and arcade, it quickly became Central City's biggest social hotspot, and a crucial tourist stop.

The two girls approached the entrance to the Mall, and Amy glanced down at her tablet. By a stroke of luck, and to her eternal delight, the Chaos signal was leading straight ahead.

"Says here that the Emerald's inside the mall!" She interpreted, a wide smile crossing her muzzle.

"Wow!" Cream grinned. "How convenient!"

"Let's take out two birds with one stone," the teenager smirked and walked through the automatic glass doors leading into the Mall. Their shoes clopped against the floor, Cream taking a moment to bend over and smile at her reflection in the polished tiles. Cheese fluttered down close to his and tilted his head quizzically at the Chao in the tiles copying his every move.

"Let's see," Amy muttered, looking down at the tablet screen, which showed the rotating diamond had moved closer toward the centre of the screen a little bit, and had begun blinking. "That Emerald's definitely nearby. C'mon, Cream!"

"Coming!" Called the rabbit, picking up her little blue friend before jogging up to the hedgehog's side.

The two animals weaved and passed through the packed Mall, brushing against clothes and bags as they went. Cheese nestled himself on Cream's head, between her long ears. This time, Amy was more aware of her surroundings, and occasionally glanced up to see where she was going as well as focusing on the tablet. Cream gave an approving nod.

"The little Emerald here's getting closer," Amy said, and took a look around herself, "might be in one of the jewellery stores… ooh, look at that shirt!" She grinned, pointing to a clothes store window.

"Amy, could we maybe look at them lat-" Cream began, then followed Amy's glance to the window. "Ooh, that _is_ a pretty shirt!"

Before they could marvel at some masterful embroidering, the shrill beep of the tablet recaptured their attention. The Emerald was near!

Amy turned around, and the diamond on the screen followed a smirking purple weasel in a cowboy hat and a belt, tossing a red gem up and down in his hand. He was flanked by a large polar bear, and a green duck.

"Amy, look!" Cream pointed at the red gem. "That must be the Chaos Emerald!"

Amy too another look at the tablet, and nodded. "You're right, that's the one! But how do we get it away from them? Those guys don't look… harmless."

"We can always try asking nicely," the rabbit suggested, and smiled up at the hedgehog, "manners don't cost anything, you know."

"Chao!" Cheese chirped in agreement.

Amy opened her mouth to argue, but no words came out. Cream was raised to always show good manners, even to the likes of Dr. Eggman, and she knew better than to try to make her do otherwise.

"Alright, Cream," she conceded, "we'll try it your way. And if that doesn't work, it's hammer time." She winked.

The girls walked over to the rough-looking trio, who halted with quizzical looks on their faces. Though, the duck looked slightly more amused for some reason.

"Excuse us, sirs," Cream began, stepping forward, "but we were just wondering if you could maybe give us that gem you have there? It's very, _very_ important, and we _really_ need it. So if you could please let us have it, we'd be very grateful." She gave an award winning smile to the trio.

The weasel and polar bear looked totally unfazed, but the duck practically had hearts in his eyes.

"Ooooh, she's such a cutie little bunny!" He cried, and grabbed the weasel's arm. "C'mon Nack, we can give up just one little shiny! Look at her with her face!"

"Gedoff, Bean!" The weasel snapped, yanking his arm away, then glared down at the rabbit. "Tell ya what, kid. Ya got about five grand?"

Cream blinked, her smile wavering. "Um, no…?"

"Then no sale," he smirked and pushed past her, "if this thing's important, I might charge double for it, actually."

Bean flashed her an apologetic look as he followed. "Sorry, bunny face!"

Amy was on it. She got right into Nack's face, her Piko Piko Hammer over her shoulder. "Alright, good cop didn't work, so bad cop is up in here. Give us the Emerald."

"Or what?" The weasel smirked, his one buck tooth practically shining with confidence. "You gonna hit me with your little hammer there, girly?"

"As a start," Amy smirked back, "you got one chance to hand it over before I smash your hand and pry it out of it." By this point, a wide circle of stopped passers-by surrounded them all.

"Right," the weasel snickered, and snapped the fingers on his free hand, "Bark?"

The polar bear suddenly sprang to life, and one of his colossal hands swatted Amy away, sending her rolling across the tiled floor.

"Amy!" Cried Cream, and stomped up to the polar bear. "Sir, that wasn't nice at all! Violence is never the-"

She was halted by Bark picking her up in both hands and gently setting her to the side. His aloof expression didn't even twitch.

Though, this left the polar bear exposed to a swing of Amy's hammer, which caught him off guard and sent him down on one knee. With a quiet growl, he quickly stood back up and glared at the hedgehog, who was stood across from him, hammer raised and poised to attack.

"Oh, now ya shouldn't have gone and done that, hammer-hog," Bean muttered, darting his eyes, "Bark gets pretty testy when people smack him upside the head with stuff. Trust me, I know first hand."

Cream raced over to her friend's side, fists clenched in the most determined scowl she could muster. All it did was invoke a loud 'Awwww!' from the duck.

Nack, meanwhile, was unmoved by the whole debacle - he simply tossed the Chaos Emerald into his other hand, using his free fingers to tap the handle of a revolver pistol hanging off his belt.

"Not your wisest plan, was it, ladies?" He smirked darkly, putting the gem into a zipped pocket. "You're outpowered, and outnumbered."

Before he knew it, the weasel was blinded, invoking a yelp out of him. Something had emerged from behind him, knocked the hat over his eyes and flipped over him. Bean burst into a fit of laughter, while Bark raised a curious eyebrow.

The same something took a spot between Cream and Amy, and the two girls and one Chao blinked as a dark grey wolf in a black bodysuit stood at their side.

"I'll only ask nicely this one time," he growled to Nack, "hand over that Emerald."


	5. Shopping Brawl

When Nack pulled his hat back onto his head, his blue eyes were ablaze with mortified rage. His teeth clenched as he glared down the wolf who matched his gaze.

"Who the heck do you think you are, wolfy?!" He barked, clenching his fists with the steel caps on his gloves shining under the Mall lights. "Don't you know who I am?!"

Vex didn't change his expression. "Should I care?"

"You're darn right you should," he growled, "I'm Fang the Sniper! Leader of the Hooligans, the best mercenaries on Mobius!"

The wolf blinked before shaking his head. "Nope, never heard of you."

"What?!"

"Wait… Fang the Sniper?" Amy asked, looking curious.

"Yes!" The weasel cracked a smile once again, though more relieved than cocky. "Thank you, someone _actually_ has some-"

"Didn't that guy say your name was Nack?" The hedgehog interrupted, pointing at Bean.

He blinked. "Well, yeah, but-"

"So should I call you Mr. Fang?" Cream piped up. "Or Mr. Nack?"

"Uh, no, just-"

"Oh yeah, sorry Nackster," Bean muttered, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward grin, "shoulda used your merc name instead of your real name, huh? My bad."

"Then stop using my real name!" The weasel snapped.

"Heh, sorry, Nick-Nack… paddywack? Give a dog a-"

"Bean, seriously, man."

By this point, Amy, Cream and Vex were exchanging confused looks as Nack and Bean bickered amongst themselves. Even Bark offered them one. Everyone bar the duck and weasel shrugged in unison.

"Uh, hey," Vex spoke up at last, and got the two's attention, "weren't we gonna fight or something?"

"He's right, Nackers," Bean admitted with a shrug.

Nack just connected his palm to his face with an exasperated groan. "Enough of this. Bark, you take the hammer chick. Bean, you got the bunny. I'll take Dogbreath over here."

Bark nodded, cracking his knuckles and rolling his neck joints.

Bean grinned ear to ear and hopped in place. "Bunny vs Ducky. Truly a battle for the ages!"

Amy smirked and raised her hammer, returning to her battle stance.

Cream gulped and clasped her hands together while Cheese swung his stubby little arms around like he were auditioning for a martial arts movie.

Vex clenched his fists, he and Nack staring each other down. He could see the weasel was clearly agitated, and he figured this would be the good time to try one of his favourite combat techniques.

He nodded upward. "Hey."

Nack blinked. "What?"

"...your hat's stupid."

Nack went silent, and the wolf just smirked as he saw his pupils quickly dilate. "NNNGGRRAAAAHHH! GET 'EM!"

Both sides advanced toward each other, meeting in a violent clash in the middle of the space.

Amy swung her hammer at Bark, who raised his arm to block the attack and used his free fist to swing at her gut. She got sent back a few feet, skidding to a halt.

"Oh, you done goofed," she scowled, before running right back toward him.

She went for another swing, which was blocked once again, but this time, Amy thought ahead - she used her hangtime to her advantage and swung her leg toward him. The polar bear reeled slightly, stunned by the sharp kick to the jaw. Using her momentum, she kicked off his chest with both legs and backflipped onto her feet.

"Not so tough now, are ya, big guy?" She taunted, flexing her free hand in a 'come get some' gesture.

With a shake of his head, Bark growled in annoyance and swung his enormous fists at the hedgehog, who used her hammer as a means of defence.

Vex and Nack kept in the centre of the space, circling each other with their fists raised as if they were combatants in a boxing match. Punches were ducked and blocked on both sides, but Vex had the air knocked out of him when Nack landed a blow to his gut, and the wolf doubled over.

With a smirk, the weasel brought both fists down on his head, sending him down to his hands and knees. "There's a trick for ya, mutt. Lie down."

Vex coughed and gasped for air, clenching his teeth at the sharp pain in the back of his head, but he looked up at Nack, flicking his tail and subtly bunching his legs back.

"How about 'play dead'?"

With no warning, he pounced Nack, the weasel wheezing, and grunting as his back hit the floor, the hat knocked off his head.

"Urgh, not bad," he huffed, not even flinching as the wolf reeled back a fist, "but I didn't get to be the world's best merc by falling for moves like that."

He bent his legs and bucked Vex off of him, sending the wolf over him. He rolled onto his front and stood, putting his hat back on. The wolf stared him down, back on his hands and knees but now more akin to an animal about to strike than a wounded man.

"I can learn from my opponents too, puppy dog," he snickered, slipping a finger across the brim of his hat.

Vex raised back up onto his feet and rolled his shoulder joints. "Well, I'll try to be a good teacher."

With Amy and Vex clashing with Bark and Nack, that just left Cream and Cheese facing Bean.

Literally. The green duck was simply standing there and staring intently at her this whole time. The little rabbit and her Chao companion were giving him their best scowls, in attempt to scare him into not fighting.

"...ooooohhh, I can't do it!" Bean finally cried, loosening his muscles. "I can't fight such a cutie patooty bunny!"

Cream and Cheese blinked confusedly, losing their game faces. That wasn't really the reaction they wanted, but they could take it.

"You shouldn't use violence as a first resort, Mr. Bean," she chided him gently, even wagging her index finger, "it's always a good idea to sit down and talk things out."

"Chao-chao," Cheese agreed, crossing his arms with a nod.

"It ain't my fault, little rabbity lady," Bean pleaded, and pointed toward the weasel, "it was Nack! He forced me into a dead-end life of crime! I just wanted to be a demolitions guy with my own union!"

Nack, whose arms were locked with Vex's, had overheard the duck's plight, and paused the struggle to give his teammate a raised eyebrow. "Bean, dude. Shut up and focus. We gotta protect the… the 'shiny'." He drew out the last word to get his attention.

Bean blinked, and shook his head. "Right, sorry boss. The bunny's cute charms messed with my brains!"

The duck hopped away from Cream, and narrowed his eyes with a smirk. "Speeeeeaking of demolition, I don't just love shiny things. I also love explodey things! And shiny explodey things! And things that make shiny explosions!"

He reached behind his back and pulled out a black bomb sphere. "Exhibit A - the explodey thing! They don't call me 'Bean the Dynamite' for nothi-"

Cheese had taken it upon himself to tackle his little blue body into Bean's head, sending the duck flat on his back, knocked out. The Chao fluttered back to Cream and the two exchanged a highfive.

Amy and Bark were banged up, and panting with exertion as they stared each other down. The hedgehog forced her hammer up for another swing, but the polar bear dropped to one knee, grunting with exhaustion.

Vex and Nack were also roughed up from their brawl, but the wolf also seemed to have the upper hand. He had a hold of the weasel's hands behind his back, keeping pressure on his arms.

"Ow, ow ow!" He yelped, squirming as much as he could manage. "Alright alright, you win! Just lemme go!"

Amy approached the Hooligans leader, and pressed her finger against his nose. "Hand over the Emerald, and you can take your buddies and go. Got it?"

"Y-yeah, yeah, whatever you want!" Nack swiftly agreed. "A few thousand rings ain't worth broken arms!"

"Smart," the hedgehog smirked, and nodded to Vex, "you can let him go, dude."

Vex furrowed his brows. "Are you serious?"

"Well, I gotta reach for my pocket, man," the weasel argued.

"Urgh, fine," Vex sighed, and let go of one of his arms.

"Thanks, you're one of the good ones," Nack muttered, and smirked as he reached for a pocket, "and one of the _dumb_ ones."

With no warning, he swung his fist at Amy and flung a handful of sand in her face, causing her to stumble back and let go of her hammer. Using the momentum, Nack then drove his elbow into Vex's jaw, loosening the wolf's grip on him and allowing him to get free.

"Bark!" He ordered.

The polar bear suddenly sprang to life and leapt over, grabbing Amy and Vex by the neck. Still having some formidable power after his fight with Amy, he slammed the two against each other before nonchalantly tossing them away, sending them rolling onto the ground and laying on the tiles, dazed and weakened.

The weasel let out a hearty cackle and took out the Chaos Emerald to flaunt it in front of his fallen foes. Bark, meanwhile, picked Bean up in one hand and shook him back to consciousness.

"Urgh…" the duck groaned, "Did… did we win, ma…?"

"You're darn right we won," Nack said, and smirked at the fallen hedgehog and wolf, "I told ya, chumps. The Hooligans are the best mercs on Mobius. Let's go, boys."

The trio took a few steps forward, until someone stood in front of them. They had one more obstacle to take care of.

A rather irate looking Cream and Cheese stood firm, glaring daggers at Nack. "How dare you trick Amy and that man like that?! Cheese and I shall have to teach you some proper manners!"


	6. Cream the Rabid

The Hooligans could only stare in dumbfounded silence as Cream and Cheese stared them down. The rabbit and Chao looked determined and ready for a fight, despite the girl not having thrown a single punch during the whole confrontation. But, with her friend and that wolf man knocked down, it was up to her and her little companion to step up.

Nack was the first to react, choosing to do so with a hearty cackle. Bean quickly joined in, while Bark just looked at them.

Cream's eyes narrowed, while Cheese punched his arm stubs together.

The weasel and duck doubled over in laughter, though Bean was the first to calm down. "Wh-what're we laughing at?!"

"Whoo!" Nack sighed, and patted his knee with his free hand as he stopped laughing. "That's rich, kid! But not as rich as I'll be when I sell this off."

"You mean 'we', right?" asked Bean. Bark narrowed his gaze at the weasel.

Nack looked at his teammates, and nodded. "Uh, yeah, I said 'as rich as _we'll_ be'."

"Did you?" The duck blinked. "Huh, must've heard ya wrong."

Bark just slapped his hand against his face.

"I-I'm sorry, sirs," Cream spoke up, her voice shaking out of anger more than fear, "but I can't let you go anywhere until you apologise for hurting my friends, and let us have that Chaos Emerald!"

Nack's smirk faded, and a serious glint came over his eyes as he walked up to the rabbit, who stood her ground.

"Alright, kid, joke's old now," he said, and held up the gem to her face, "we're taking this gem, selling it, and spending the cash on expensive luxuries. Do you understand those words? So now, if you'll excuse us-"

"Chao!" Cheese squeaked angrily, getting right into Nack's face and advancing as the weasel backed up a few paces. "Chao-chao! Chao!"

"Outta the way, ya stupid blob!" Nack growled, and sent the Chao rolling through the air with a backhand. A gasp sounded from Cream.

The little blue creature righted himself, eyes drooped and the yellow sphere hovering over his head morphing into a spiral.

"Cheese!" cried Cream, cupping her hands over her mouth, then glaring at Nack with her fists clenched at her side. "You… you have gone _too_ far, Mr. Nack!"

"Oh no," Nack snickered, still tossing the Chaos Emerald up and down in his hand, "I'm such a bad man, aren't I? How could I _ever_ live with myself?"

The rabbit was nearly shaking with anger. Something Nack was obviously enjoying.

"What'd you say before? You were gonna teach me some manners?" He laughed, and bent over to get eye level with the girl. "Tell you what, I'll let you take the first shot. I'll even close my eyes and put my hands behind my back. How's _that_ for manners?"

It was Bean who reacted next. "Uh, boss? You sure that's a good call? I don't like the look in her eyes… she got them angry eyes."

"Psh," Nack scoffed, "what's she gonna do? Grumpy face me to death?" The weasel snickered and did what he said, closing his eyes and keeping his hands behind his back. "Go on kid, I'll give ya a ten second head start. One, two..."

Cream clenched her teeth at his mocking her, and decided to take him up on that offer. She used her ten seconds to dash away from Nack, and skidded to a stop before running right back toward him. Her large ears began to flap, with enough power to actually lift her off the ground. She swung her legs around and bent them as she sped toward her target.

"Eight, nine… nine and a ha-" Nack was cut off by getting the soles of Cream's shoes driven right into his face and sending him hurdling back, rolling to a stop on his stomach.

The Chaos Emerald dropped to the ground, Nack losing grip on it after the dropkick took him by surprise. Cream took the chance to scoop the gem up.

Nack scrambled onto his feet, outraged by how not only a small child had actually landed a good hit on him, but she had taken the Emerald as well.

In a moment of blind rage, he reached for his holster and pointed the revolver inside at Cream. "You dirty little-!"

Right in the middle of his undoubtedly controversial threat, He yelped in pain as the gun was suddenly knocked out of his hand by something hitting it hard.

His gun spun up into the air, and he clutched his hand, scowling as Cheese fluttered in front of him, punching his little blue stubs together. "Chao!"

"You dumb little freaks never learn," he snarled, and went to throw a punch at Cheese.

But the Chao was ready this time. He easily swooped over the jab, and used the momentum to drive his leg across the back of Nack's head before he could react. The weasel was sent spinning forward, only to be met by Cream's foot across his jaw.

Bean and Bark watched, wincing with every strike as their boss was knocked back and forth between the rabbit and Chao like a pingpong ball. Amy and Vex, still dazed from the attack before, just watched with wide eyed amazement. They took a moment to share the look with each other.

Eventually, Nack stopped stumbling, but the constant strikes in the head and gut left him dizzy and reeling, like he'd had one too many at the bar.

"A-alright, I got you right where I want you," he slurred, pointing at Cream, "you and your twins stay right where you-"

 **WHACK**

The gun had come back down, the gravitational force sending the butt of the handle square onto his head. His eyes spiralled and a peculiar tweeting sounded before the weasel promptly faceplanted onto the ground, the hat knocked off his head. The crowd, and the four former combatants could only watch with shock that a young girl and her pet Chao had beaten someone up so badly. Not that he hadn't deserved it.

Bean gulped, a sweat running down his face, and even the aloof Bark had his eyes slightly widened in fear. Cream and Cheese set their narrowed glares upon them, now that their boss was taken care of.


End file.
